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Is the King James Bible Harder to Understand Than The Others?

Have You Believed The Lie that the Bible Cannot Be Understood?

Have you Believed the Lie that the Bible needs to be "revised" or "updated" in order for us to understand it in today's modern language?

"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."  (2 Timothy 3:2-5)

Most of us have seen the advertisements in Christian Book Stores, on Television and billboards and we've heard the radio ads concerning different bible versions that are supposed to be "easier to read" than the King James Version.   I recently visited a book store that had a paper that claimed the King James bible was written on a 12.7 grade level and that the NIV was on an 8th Grade level.  The sources cited were "independent studies". 

Do you realize WHO wrote those ads? Let me give you a little hint, if I may: It was NOT English majors, but Advertising majors.

In other words, it was not anyone who really KNOWS about the subject, they just know how to get your attention and to make you think you're getting a really good thing

(Have you ever listened to automobile ads? You know the ones, "IT'S OUR GREATEST SALE EVER"..."YOU'LL NEVER SEE PRICES THIS LOW AGAIN") Hehe...it's a little amusing that people still fall for them.

In any case, though, this is exactly the type of thinking that most of the "new version" ads attempt to force upon you.

For you that perhaps are authors, poets, technical writers, educators, etc., you have no doubt heard of the Flescher-Kincaid Company's 'Grade Level Indicator'. They are not biased and it matters very little to them the CONTENT of any book. They assign a Readability scale to books in order to determine the ease with which one might read and understand a particular book.

The Flescher-Kincaid rating is the National Standard for readability.  Any other "studies" are sure to be biased in favor of the book that is being promoted.  PERIOD.  Do the research yourself, and you'll quickly realize this.

The results are BLACK AND WHITE. There is no room to question, they are entirely fair and unbiased and they are recognized worldwide as definitive. The KJV ranks easier in 23 out of 26 comparisons.

 The Flescher-Kincaid Company has developed a formula that they apply to books in order to ascertain the readability grade scale. 

(Their formula is: ( .39 x average number of words per sentence) + (11.8 x average number of syllables per word) - (15.59) = grade level.

The first chapter of the first and last books of both the Old and New Testaments were compared. (All complete sentences, whether terminating in a period, colon, or semi-colon, and all incomplete phrases ending in a period, were calculated as 'sentences'.)

In this manner, they are able to take any book, regardless of content and determine a "grade level readability factor".  In other words they find at which grade level a person can reasonably read and comprehend the content of that book.  It matters little to them whether the book is religious, scientific, fiction, or even whether it is a comic book.  What does matter is HOW EASY THE BOOK IS TO READ.

Comparison

To extend the inquiry, one each of the three book-types (Gospel, Pauline epistle, General epistle) were surveyed. The resulting data confirms the readability of the KJV as seen in the next chart.

Comparison 2

Once again, the King James Version prevails in readability. Why? The KJV uses one or two syllable words while new versions substitute complex multi-syllable words and phrases. Their "heady, high-minded" vocabulary hides the simplicity of hope of salvation from saints and sinners alike.

Look at these examples:

"Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:..." (2 Corinthians 3:12)

The NASB substitutes "lividness of speech" here and carries this confusing and condescending vocabulary from cover to cover.

Children and church members need to change to the KJV for real "clarity."

An extensive list is not given, but enough IS given to get the picture. Unfortunately, it is not often that Christians of today are encouraged to READ, to THINK or to REASON for themselves.

Most people, when questioned as to WHY they believe a particular thing will proclaim "BECAUSE MY PASTOR TEACHES IT THAT WAY" (or someone else they trust). The Cold FACT of the whole matter is that very few ever read and study the word for themselves!

Below are 100+ examples of this thinking: Since I've already covered the NIV in detail, let me cover yet another popular version,  briefly (for now):

King James Version vs. NASB

So which is more readable to you?

You must realize that an "interpretation" is NOT a "translation". READ the PREFACE to one of today's leading modern versions and you'll find that they had no intention of providing a correct interpretation but felt it was OK to change, eliminate, or rearrange entire passages of the Word, all in the name of "better readability".  In their own words, they weren't trying to translate, they were trying to "interpret" what the original writers must have been "feeling" as they wrote. 

The test results by far show that the King James version IS MORE READABLE than any other version.
One more excuse for NOT reading it is now removed!

In summary look at this final comparison and decide ... IS IT OK to DELETE portions of the Bible? If you say no, then you need to go back and rethink your reasons for adopting a "modern" version.

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